So much for that idea: Swiss village lifts photography ban after story goes viral

Just days after 'banning' photography, the Swiss village of Bergüm has, not surprisingly, reversed course. In a bizarre video, the mayor of Bergüm states that 'until the ban on photography is officially lifted, everyone with a camera will be given a friendly special permit.'

The video leaves little doubt that the whole thing was a PR stunt, with Mayor Peter Nicolay proclaiming 'the beauty of our village has become world-famous thanks to our friendly photography ban.' Judging by how quickly the story spread, the stunt worked exactly as planned.

When I was a kid I already found it strange that people in a small place selling watches and chocolate could become so rich. Of course I was young and didn't know about "anonymous financial services" and properties of victim of wars.....

Among other things, their quality and attention to detail and craftsmanship demands higher prices (not to mention you need to take into account their minimum age). When I was over there in 2009, I think the minimum a ge was equivalent to about $20 USD per hour. So, even the guy's flipping burgers at McDonalds are making what we would consider a very livable wage, to the Swiss, that may just be getting by, as I assume with higher wages is higher cost of living too. But yes, I will agree, I think there are those who make good money selling/making chocolates and watches. I'd love to get one of the Swiss watches the next time I go there, but am not sure I want to spend $500 on a watch just yet.... my smartphone does fine for now.

If a tiny village makes a joke on internet, I think it can be defined "success" if the people who did it had their fun - and I guess they had. A dozen more beers at the local pub are a better indicator than world economy's trends.

If they don't realize additional tourism dollars,then success of stunt is measured after a couple ofyears by weight of a single Trivial Pursuit card...or a Double Jeopardy answer followed by a question in which someone might make $2000, which is$2000 more than Bergum made...Someone could even lose their job over it incouple years if "laughing with" turns into laughing at...Bergum jokes Polish jokes kind of thing...Why did Bergum ban ______?(common sense) (beautiful women) (restaurants) blah blah blah

I'll transport myself to your village, you will pay for my stay and local expenses, and arrange local subjects of beauty available - be it happy kids, smiling women, local archictecture, natural scenery or proud craftmanship alike. I promise that within a week, I can make no less than fifty fully indifferent - or even ugly - images of your town, its people and its surroundings (with proper access and permits).

Should one or more images happen to be slightly likeable (as judged by inhabitants outside the areas in question), this will not void the challenge as long as the former statement is adhered to.

How hard can it possibly be ?

(Sorry, no humor folks, no looks, no laughing-around-corners or whatever, and certainly no thoughts as mentioned below. Not at all)

Vladimir Putin is jumping up and down in his Dacha and his laughter can be heard all the way across the Ural mountains. He got us good. He is running circles around us. But your right Roland, the American people voted and wanted it that way.

@Roland Karlsson. True story. So I and my wife go to the voting place and standing in line to get out ballots. My wife used to be running this place few years ago so she has special training and know all the procedures.So, this spanish couple walks in to vote and they don't speak any english (only in California you can pass citizenship test in your own language) so they needed some help. With the broken spanish my wife offered them help. Since they could not read what was on the ballot my wife ask them what to mark. Guess who they voted for? And no, my wife did not mark something else.

"Russian thing" is what Obama and true American tzar George Soros decided to use to block current POTUS.In US no matter who is president you are being run by people of influence.American people does come last.

I think you should look at the definition of unfair is. Both candidates were subject to the same rules and regulations we have for our election process. One lost, one won- according to those rules. Unfair states (and is incorrect) that one candidate did not follow rules. If you don't like those rules, then vote on changing them (if you live in america) otherwise, nothing was unfair about the election process.

SushiEater: What exactly has changed since then? Those rules of government and the election process hold just as true today as they did when the country was formed. The electoral process is in place to protect the minority from mob rule. In a democracy mob rule always wins and that can get out of hand quickly. This process has checks and balances and insures as fair of an outcome as possible. We live in a Republic not a democracy. Had the election been a popular vote only then both candidates would have campaigned much differently and you might still be upset at the outcome.

Truth is, several states that have always voted democrat switched to republican and that is truly historical. Hillary was a bad candidate and Trump beat her. Try again in 3.5 years.

I thought we lived in Democratic society. Sorry, I missed that. But I still don't understand why Democracy is bad and why I would be upset if Donald won fair and square. The outcome is that majority of Americans are constantly saying that they hate Trump making more jokes about him than any other president and have his bloodied head on the platter. So now we have 3.5 more years to make jokes about our own president who screws up something every single day.

So defooman. If someone doesn't agree with you politically they shouldn't be allowed to vote? You sound like you may be more Russian than American. You should look into getting an education , not another new camera!

You can understand humor and "think around the corner" (whatever that means) all you want, but that doesn't make the law books the right place for a joke.

Humor and sarcasm are not not a universal concepts; they can and do vary dramatically from culture to culture. Writing laws that can only be interpreted correctly through the cultural lens of those who created them is a recipe for misunderstanding. Once one law is deliberately written as a PR stunt, to be ignored in practice, what happens when someone who simply doesn't understand the cultural basis for another entirely serious law decides to ignore that one as well, because from their perspective it too seems like a joke?

For helping your understanding, better to complete your cultural basis and clean your cultural lens…In a small Swiss village, municipal regulations (what you name “laws”, and then seem to confuse with articles of national constitution) aren’t a product of a council or committee: they are discussed and set by the assembly of inhabitants. And they are specific to the local community: limits for harvesting wild fruits, color for waste bins or windowsill flowers, times for cutting the lawn…There can be provisory regulations that will be lifted when no more needed. In this case duty to the mayor to lift it after a few days (for avoiding the need of an extraordinary village assembly): the provisory regulation was odd, but not a legal “joke”. And not so much different from a prohibition of cropping mushrooms during weekends (often decreed for preventing city people to sweep up the village’s goods).

Lots of nearly free publicity. Sony has to design a new camera to get this much coverage. Did you see the story on the cafe that put out a sign saying "Liam Neeson eats for free"? Sure enough, he showed up.

now more posts/articles to follow all over the web titled, the village that once had banned photography.. :Dcome on, instead of this you, could have done some exhibition-like thing to increase popularity in a positive manner...

Be careful, for saying something like that (and spilling it carelessly to the Russians) we Swiss can put a fine on you , or impeach you or covfefe you - or whatever! (I wonder where you lived in Switzerland... Bergün? ;-)

«Hyper-regulated»? Maybe. But «quasi police state»?? That's about the most stupid thing I ever read about my country ... due to ignorance (after two years living among us!) or just lack of sense of humor??? («Poor Guy», as The Donald would judge.)

indeed... could be a web journalist who, driving trough Bergün, was flashed by a speed-control machine. Then seeking revenge he mounted this plot for discrediting the village in world's wide opinion.BTW we are in the 100th anniversary of Kipling's novel (written 1917).For the few not knowing it: "The Village that voted the Earth was flat".

No, this was not a PR stunt. The People from Switzerland are very serious about their property. And they think the view around their mountain village is their property. Swiss People are also known for beeing absolutely not funny at all.

Yea sure. Nothing says "tongue in cheek" like these two videos. Anyone who thinks any of it is serious has no sense of humor. What is it about "we don't want people to be unhappy that they're not here" sounds serious?

Designographer: You used once the word “Switzerland”: that’s $5.00You used the expression “Swiss People”: that’s $2.50 eachPlease specify exactly to which mountain you refered as the fee is related to its heightI will send you privately the account nr. for your money transfer.

I am just confused. What was this? A friendly ban? A friendly permit? But, you have to think before using the photos you take. I do not understand a thing? What am I supposed to think of? And what is so friendly about all this nonsense?

It appears here that, like the video's YouTube comments, there is a lesson to be learned here: THINK CRITICALLY. Taking "news" at face value will surely be our civilization's undoing."Numerous sources are reporting that Moscow has just launched an ICBM headed for Los Angeles. The president has already ordered massive nuclear retaliation. In other news, watch as this fireman rescues a kitten from a tree in nearby Jerkwater..."(Sources: Breitbart, People Magazine, and a well-respected YouTuber in Tahiti)

The "bridge sale" reminds me of the chiseler "Sülün Osman" from the 70's Istanbul.It was a time of massive migration from the eastern villages, and the Bosphorus bridge was recently finished.This guy waited for his prey on a hill overlooking the bridge. When one of the migrants, with some money in his pockets to get by in the big city, came to admire the bridge (it was one of the tallest things in Turkey at the time) he claimed "Like the bridge? It's mine. I could sell you a share of it."He made a fortune off the gullible folks who thought they were getting a very sweet deal.

If you're going to promote the "friendly photography ban" for this lovely, picturesque Swiss town, shouldn't you at least get the name right? It appears to be written as Bergün or Bergün/Bravuogn (as it's officially called with it's double name). I quite enjoyed the video and would never have heard of that town otherwise.

Thanks for the clarification. Still, the point is that it's Bergün, with an "n". If you search the web using an English keyboard and type "Bergum" (since English keyboards don't usually have ü), the Swiss village Bergün doesn't appear. Instead, another town Bergum in the Netherlands shows up in searches. Hence, DPR should correct the original article to properly credit the friendly town in Switzerland.

This must be a covfefe moment, since no one at DPR is making a correction :) It's like, "Hey, are you a fan of that famous American singer, Michelle Jackson?" "Nope, never heard of her. Do you mean Michael Jackson?" "Oh yeah, that's the one. Sorry to mix you up with the wrong name."

It's fascinating to see how many comments here show a deplorable lack of sense of humor; are we photographers maybe overly serious and earnest people? Or just too stupid to be able to laugh at an innocent but (IMO) anyway funny publicity stunt?? (I, possibly, understood it because I'm Swiss myself???)

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